bad service, food not great either. my stomach hurt after and i was sweaty i will not be returning read more

For a city with such a vibrant Asian culture, the quality of food at Aki's is an utter disgrace to me. I ordered the Beef and Broccoli Rice dish today, and it was absolutely horrendous-one of the worst rice plates I've had in my entire life. The broccoli was extremely mushy and overcooked. The beef was tasteless and extremely chewy, and felt like I was eating strips of rubber. Even the rice-a fundamental staple of Asian cuisine-was terribly executed, and was runny and goopy. I felt like throwing up afterwards and was extremely disappointed by what I got for $13. The ambience and service of the place were acceptable, but the food itself is completely inedible. I will even wager that the excretions from the adorable Shiba Inu puppy I saw in the food complex tasted better than what I had today. read more

From my experiences, the food is generally flavorless and wait times are quite long. I went there twice, the first time a month or two ago. The first time, I ordered an udon with sushi combo. The soup tasted like diluted soy sauce water and was completely inedible. I later decided to give it a second try, and ordered the beef and broccoli donburi.The broccoli was soggy, the beef was flavorless and rubbery, and the rice was more like porridge - very runny. read more

Aki Japanese Restaurant - Sushi Udon Combo - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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10.10. It seems to be a Japanese restaurant but the waitress spoke Chinese and the menu was in Chinese. I ordered a drumstick rice. There were two drumsticks. cabbages, carrots, scent mushrooms, meat and miso soup. The restaurant is decorated with Japanese lamps. I liked the environment. Btw other restaurants were closed today such as Chinese restaurant, Indian restaurant, Vietnam restaurant and so on. Today's weather is lovely although the wind is bigger than usual. It good for playing outside. We have a vacation from 10.9 to 10.13. Almost the same as Chinese national holiday. I heard that Yosemite is burning. In order to avoid mountain fire, there is a power outage. read more

Aki Japanese Restaurant - drumstick rice - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

This place holds a special place in my heart. My roommate and I would come here after classes on the north side of Berkeley campus all the time. The food here is delicious and well priced (I always get the tempura udon), and the woman at the front is so kind. There is also self service tea and water! read more

Aki Japanese Restaurant Is located in a section known area known as the North Side Asian Ghetto. I do not understand and get all of this "Asian Ghetto" business. At least this particular area cares about cleanliness unlike its south side contemporary. I have been here before, I was not that impressed; I was volunteering at one of the religious schools when I came here for lunch ages ago. Remember my review on International House and the couple I mentioned? Well, Aki Japanese Restaurant was "their" place for Japanese food. I had the shrimp tempera lunch. I was not too impressed as the tempura batter was rather thick--it was the type of batter I would see on British fish and chips, not a Japanese shrimp dish. Upon checking the Yelp! reviews in-between classes, I decided to give Aki Japanese Restaurant another try, especially after reading the rave reviews for the pork tonkatsu. I ordered the pork tonkatsu and decided to have a shrimp tempera appetizer since I was really hungry. The pork tonkatsu was really delicious and worthy of the rave reviews. Light, barely greasy. A huge portion over a bed of rice with cole slaw on the side. And the batter on the shrimp tempera appetizer had physically changed, light and airy. Really accentuated and enhanced the flavor and shape of the shrimp and vegetables. (And I am quite surprised to see my photo is the cover photo of the moment for Aki Japanese Restaurant.) The hostess/waitress was very pleasant yet rather serious. Never broke into a smile. Polite and attentive. If I wanted more water, all I had to do was ask and my request was fulfilled. On my recent visit here, I was very surprised when she asked me if I wanted more water. I emphatically and enthusiastically replied "Yes!" I concur with the other reviewers the tonkatsu is the primo dish to order at Aki Japanese Restaurant. I know I will be back for another round of tonkatsu her for sure. Kampai! SYOY! read more

Aki Japanese Restaurant - Shrimp Tempera appetizer. - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Aki has their best selling dishes /items in signs and pics on the outside of the eatery: udon, dons, terikiyas, katsu, etc. at very reasonable prices. eats: chirashi don(10.99) -miso soup all msg based, skipped most of it -chirashi 4 large slices of sake (salmon) and 4 large slices of some kind of tuna pretty fresh, not much wasabi -sushi rice nicely vinegared. temaki: -good value: 3.5 stars -portions average. i.e. no leftovers. -packaged udon stacked in front of register. -seating available inside and out. (some seats barely qualify as seats) -cheap food. some peeps may find food unedible. (look before you order.). read more

This is an all around great little Japanese Restaurant and a College spot at its best. This is not "fine dining" Japanese food but it is good Japanese food. The service is super friendly and accommodating. The food is affordable and if you have an opportunity to sit inside the feel is very traditional. They have a lot of things listed on the menu but honestly it is hard for me to get anything other than the Udon. The Udon is the perfect meal to go with the cool Bay Area temperatures. I love putting a little bit of the spice on top and mixing it in. Little piece of advice: Lunchtime is busy. Lines start to form around 11:30 and can keep going until 12:30 or 1pm. Seating inside is small but there are plenty of places to sit in the communal courtyard area. read more

Oh lord. It looked bad and it was. Much worse than I thought it would be. Food: I tried the sukiyaki bento (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/a4QUSAFVvTu7Gv0oegzbXQ?select=IaFpY8fM9dSYMYgEIFHB5w) and was disappointed in all categories. The contents of the bento were pretty sparse compared to what I've seen elsewhere. Couldn't they have put one more item in here, even if just a token addition, to make the box look fuller? I mean, when they say sukiyaki bento, they really mean just sukiyaki, some chicken, and the regular tempura rice combo. The rice occupied one of the squares rather than coming in a bowl so there went another opportunity for more variety. The chicken and tempura were okay to be honest, but the actual "sukiyaki" was just some bland stir fried beef with onions. The meal also came with some miso soup. I didn't feel like what I got was worth what I paid at all. Service: Mind-numbingly fast. Atmosphere: I think the atmosphere of this food court severly damaged my appetite. It looks really dirty in the area with all the sun-faded pictures of food hanging from the windows and flies buzzing around. I probably would've felt much better about eating here if not for that. Synopsis: Not my cup of tea at all. read more

Aki Japanese Restaurant - Sukiyaki bento - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

I thought the food was a great value at lunch time until it made me sick. I got a bento box with California rolls, rice, and tempura veggies for $10. Service was pretty good. The employees were generally polite and happy to do their job. I left feeling quite happy with my lunch. However, later that day I started feeling sick to my stomach and having digestive issues. I have never had issues like this with sushi before. I wanted to love this place but sadly don't think I will be back. read more

Aki Japanese Restaurant - $10 Bento box at lunch time - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

So I had the fresh eel roll, and my friends had the chicken udon. The food was great, no complaints there... But, the service wasn't, so minus a star there, she forced us to sit outside, then just kind of slammed our check down before we even got like two bites of our meals, now THAT was kind of rude. Then later on, when we were halfway done, she GLARED at us... wth? So we paid and hightailed it out of there. Also, I know, I know most food places aren't very sanitary... but we saw them drying their leeks out in the eating area, the outside eating area, so there were a bunch of flies humming all over it, and over the course of our meal, I saw them coming to take some leeks to use in dishes. So minus another star for that. read more

Best value Japanese bento (and taiwanese bento) in the bay area. Have been here for many years. Would recommend katsu don!

Super good Taiwanese food!! The minced pork and pork chop plate was amazing. Definitely recommend!

Nice sitting area, self-served hot tea, great free miso soup accompanying every dish. Huge bento box, very fulfilled.

The North Side Ghetto's Japanese restaurant monopoly. When you're uphill on this quiet side and craving for Japanese food, this is the place to go. I usually order their udon here since they fill me up for a decent price. I've tried their dumpling udon and chicken udon. They give you quite a lot of veggies. The soup is sweet and light. To me it's just right, it might be lacking taste for most. Their noodles were slightly flatter than the udon I would get from the store. Nonetheless, it tastes great. I ordered their Katsu Don today. It was alright, had better ones before. I liked Tako Sushi's donburi more. Tried their salmon sushi roll before. Too little fish and the sushi pieces didn't look too pro (rice was kinda falling apart). The restaurant is small, so sit tight with your friends. Definitely not a place to go to when you're in a big group. Quick service but the lady never seems to smile at you. read more

Update: I lowered it one star due to inconsistency in food preparation. Sometimes the chicken tempura is really good and other times its burnt. Cozy environment... the decor immitates a Japanese style home. The food is quite good. The waiter who dresses G is the nicest guy ever and a really good waiter. I think the restaurant is family run. And as I read in Jessica C.'s review "tempura chicken is to die for" read more

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. I can't just say "ew", I have to stress the "W". Think of W as an upside-down "M". So if something is "mMm good", then what is "wWw?" WoWoW bad. This place sucks. It is not cheap for what you order and to think they would have fresh fish in a perpetually empty restaurant on the far end of "Gourmet Ghetto" on top of a hill where only college students venture into is a ridiculous idea. I do not know why I didn't think of that before my roommate and I walked in one day to eat here. Place is old and reeks of it; menus are battered and stained with old food sauce/juice/WTFs?; waiter takes forever to place your order or deliver it or both; food is cold by the time it gets out. I ordered the bento box and WOW what a terrible idea, there is literally 2 tiny pieces of chicken terriyaki, some limp iceberg lettuce, and a scoop of day-old rice. I won't come back. read more

I don't normally yelp-- unless it's to defend small hole-in-the-walls like Aki. First of all, a lot of yelpers wrote bad reviews because they ordered raw fish. And I'm sure these yelp elites have "excellent palates" because they have tried $100 sashimi before. Come on--why would you even consider ordering raw fish at a place like this? No offense to Aki but clearly this place isn't for sushi. These yelpers are idiots-- once you step into Aki, you just know this place is known for dishes other than raw fish. Also, yeah this place isn't as clean as Chez Panisse, but come on-- this restaurant is so much cleaner than any restaurant in south/north ghetto. These yelp elite comments are ridiculous and so high maintenance. Please come here at least to try the CHICKEN TEMPURA DON ($6). I've attached a picture for your convenience: http://imgur.com/31wLz. This lightly breaded chicken is so moist and it is perfectly crispy. It comes on top of rice with a side of pickled/sour vegetables and miso soup. The only thing that can make this meal more satisfying is adding a Sapporo. And yes, this restaurant is owned by a Taiwanese couple. Omg how horrifying-- this place isn't owned by real japanese people?! Uhhhh every other Japanese restaurant in Berkeley is Korean-owned so don't get so don't get so dramatic. read more

Coming here was a mistake. I ordered the chicken udon. Including all my years of existence of college-living and janky home-cooked meals, this was unfortunately the worst noodle dish I've ever had. The "udon" was flat out mushy, as if it had been sitting in a pot all day, the chicken was the dark meat + fat that you'd normally trim off, and there were a total of two carrot slices + some napa cabbage in the whole soup. I couldn't finish it, and I can't stand wasting food. The people who work here are pretty nice, but they really need to have a conversation with their chef. read more

For the amount of food you get, I can def see myself hitting up this place again! Ordered to go, because seating looked limited, and it was also a very hot day. My friend and I got this Bento box, with ribs and I really really enjoyed my meal. Overall, if you're in he area and looking for some good food, this is your place to go. They've got a wide variety of selections! read more

I rarely go to North Side Asian Ghetto for dinner, but because my friend and I were already in the area I decided to give one of the restaurants a try. Upon entering, the ambiance of the restaurant was very serene. What stuck out to me the most was how tiny the seats were! The food was very mediocre. I ordered the teriyaki chicken which came with a side salad. The side salad did not look very appetizing and was not appetizing. The teriyaki chicken was okay; there are other places in Berkeley that have better teriyaki chicken for the same price. read more

This place has been a favorite for me for the five years I was in Berkeley. It's important to remember that every rice dish they make is 10/10 and anything with noodles is on the opposite side of the spectrum. They also have a Taiwanese menu hanging in the front of the store, which again has great rice dishes and mediocre noodle items. If you speak to the middle aged servers/cashiers in Chinese, they will be much friendlier. Don't know what to get? The tonkatsu on their regular menu or minced pork rice on their Taiwanese menu will hit the spot. read more

Don't think of this as an authentic Japanese restaurant, because you're going to be disappointed. The tempura isn't done in the Japanese style, the sushi is crappy, the tea isn't barley tea, and the bento is overrated and too expensive for my taste. So why am I giving this place 4 stars? Because this place is run by a Taiwanese family, and their tempura is done in a delicious Taiwanese style that reminds me of Taipei, not Tokyo. Also, on Wednesday nights, they prepare Taiwanese comfort food, such as stir-fried vermicelli, ground pork rice, beef noodles, dumplings and buns, Taiwanese-style soups, and so much other Taiwanese authentic goodness that it blows all the other Taiwanese places in Berkeley out of the water. If you're a Berkeley student looking for good Taiwanese food, you cannot afford to miss this place on Wednesdays. Be sure to ask for their specials, because it changes every week. Also, the service here is easily the nicest on campus. The waitress will care for you and make sure you're doing okay, and sometimes offers extra soup if it looks like you're freezing on a cold winter night. So unless you're here for the chicken tempura donburi for lunch or the fish teriyaki rice for dinner, skip this place and come back on Wednesday nights. You won't regret it. read more

Back in college I loved this place. I think I'd go twice a week after cs lecture. This is like the one place where I would not order sushi. And at Japanese places I always order sushi. Simply because their tempura chicken was to die for. It wasn't like classical tempura batter, but this bread crumb mixture. When it came out it was this brown orange hue, never super greasy, but piping hot dark meat chicken. This was such a tiny restaurant. My cs group would have meetings here all the time. Those were the good old days. read more

I've been here many times. Yes, the owners are Chinese, but Aki is a pretty fair restaurant for the pricing. They make fantastic tempura here, so I can't help but get tempura iron most of the time; their bento boxes are decent as well, though. If you really want some cheap Japanese, go south to manpuku or get some ramen at So Oishi on a Monday (6.50). If you're looking for great sushi and/or udon for a decent price, C U sushi has never let me down in terms of quality. read more

Really like this Asian fusion restaurant. The bento boxes are always a good choice if it's your first time here

I would propose that this is the coziest restaurant on the northside of campus. They have great miso soup, pot-stickers, and bento boxes for lunch. If there is room, definitely sit inside - the atmosphere is too nice to pass up. read more

Really cheap prices. Dinner for $11.00. But that's because the chicken is gristly dark meat, and the sashimi is limp and on the verge of slimy. The tea is lukewarm too. read more

I've been to Aki Japanese Restaurant in college a couple of times and found it to be quite mediocre. Located on the northside of the Berkeley campus in a food court, the restaurant has a nice charming interior though I found most of the booth seating to be quite uncomfortable. I've tried multiple items here such as their california roll, chicken teriyaki, and tempura, but found them all to be quite lackluster. In the end, I would go to Aki Japanese Restaurant when really craving Japanese food while in northside, but wouldn't really recommend it otherwise. read more

I really enjoy Aki and eat there at least once a week! The service is awesome, the family who owns and runs the restaurant is extremely kind and you can tell they care about the food/service they provide. The interior has a very calm presence (although it gets pretty busy with college students around lunchtime!). I often sit and enjoy a hot miso soup and cup of tea before my food arrives. The booths are cozy and surprisingly private giving you an intimate experience if you're enjoying a meal with someone. The servers check on you often and if you do need something they're happy to get it for you. If you're in the area an looking for a quick bite or a nice affordable sit-down meal I strongly encourage you to stop by! My favorite is one of the lunch specials: chicken terriyaki special with a california roll :) read more

Aki Japanese Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

The free tea was a great way to start the meal. The free miso soup was cool too! The food was okay. The prices were okay. The owner / worker reading the newspaper at the entrance farting while I was eating was not okay. Hearing a *BRRRRAAPPPPPP* a few bites into your lunch is a really unappetizing way to start a meal. It would have been one thing if the flatulent emission had been short and sweet. No, it was long and drawn out. The guard at the door clearly knew what she was doing when she let out a second *tooooooooooot* a few minutes later. She was telling me to quickly finish my meal and get out. This was reinforced by the bill that quickly came to my table a few minutes later with a tootsie roll on it. A brown tootsie roll? REALLY? read more

Aki's tonkatsu is really good! Crispy outside and tender inside. Very big portion for the price. Also, the decor is homey and cute...:) read more

I had always wanted to eat in at this restaurant, as the interior has a cute wooden Japanese-like set up (in doors not wheelchair accessible, by the way). I thought some of the sushi rolls were cheap, but I ended up ordering a bento box for what I thought was between $8-9. The box came with a lot of tempura, a sushi roll on the smaller side (but ok), an ok sized salad, and four or five small half dollar sized pieces of chicken teriyaki. Plus a decent portion of rice. I tell myself it's ok, if I had gone to Joshuya and ordered a similar bento it would have been twice the price. Boyfriend ordered a similar sized bento. In terms of taste nothing really left an impression in my mind. Kind of bland, if anything. Service was rather slow, to order and to get out of there. Of course it was one of those places you weren't sure if you were suppose to go up to the register and ask for the total or wait for it. We saw another group get their total brought to them, so we waited...and waited...but we gave up and boyfriend went to ask for it. When we finally got the total, it listed the price of the bentos as over $10. I know the price difference isn't much, but it is disappointing, if not a bad business practice, not to be told the correct price before your order. (If you have two people ordering the same thing, you'd think you'd mention your prices went up at the time of the order...). Food: OK. Ambiance: Tiny. Some indoor seats looked super small. Cleanliness: OK. Service: Below average (waiter who took our order was friendly, but I'm still kind of disappointed that we were charged more than what was listed). read more

This restaurant is so delicious!! They serve very generous portions, are so nice the entire time you're there, and the food is reeeaally good. If you're looking for a nice little comforting place I highly recommend visiting Aki's :) ps: their gyoza udon and bento boxes are super yummy read more

I've gotten a bento box here once, some time ago, I think, so I can't vouch for the sushi or tempura (I generally don't like tempura), but I don't remember the bento being super awful or super delicious. For the prices, really, I've no complaints. As far as I'm concerned, Japanese restaurants are like steak houses. You really need quality ingredients to get quality sushi, and quality ingredients are going to be expensive. If you go to a cheap Japanese restaurant you can't have the same expectations. For high quality sushi, Kirala is the only place I've been to that is close to campus that serves really good sushi (and I'm almost certain I've been to them all), but be prepared to pay 2-5 times as much. You get what you pay for, and for the prices at Aki the food is totally reasonable. The reason I insist on 5 stars for this place is because on Wednesday nights this place serves authentic Taiwanese food that is absolutely delicious and super cheap. We ordered a WHOLE FISH and two ginormous taiwanese empanada things. They meal also came with a soup and rice, gratis. Everything they served us was delicious, and service was super speedy. The whole meal cost the two of us $13 total ($6.50 each!). I would have been content to pay twice as much. If you're in the area on a wednesday night, I cannot emphasize how highly I recommend this place. Ask for the Taiwanese menu and forego the sushi. read more

Okay, so this place isn't amazing. But it's Japanese food, I'm Japanese, it makes me happy. I've only gotten the tonkatsu don here (breaded and fried pork with eggs and onions over rice) which I can safely say is somewhat of a comfort food to me. Tip #1: they only take credit/debit over $10. I think last time they gave me this tiny little voucher--literally the size of a stamp--for the difference between my dish and $10. Of course, I lost it before I even stepped out of the restaurant. Overall: Decent, nothing amazing and not the best Japanese restaurant around, pretty cheap for a good amount. read more

Nothing fancy, but tonkatsu is pretty good! Not the best, but definitely edible...and big big portion! I took leftover home and ate it for dinner. Haven't tried other menu~ read more

2.5 stars Food: I've tried the Beef Sukiyaki Bento and the Beef Spareribs. The bento includes miso soup, salad, rice, veggie tempura, and grilled chicken. I'd come back for the Sukiyaki but not the Spareribs. I thought the sukiyaki would be like stew and the spareribs would be grilled but it was the other way around. The "sukiyaki" is pretty much grilled meat and the spareribs are boiled. Pretty filling. The tempura is okay but it's a chore to eat all of it. Service: Friendly patient waiter. Will refill your tea and give more rice. Atmosphere: the space is clean but cramped so stick to small groups or to go. Incandescent lighting. Standard Japanese decor. Everyone can hear your conversation so try not to have embarrassing talks here. I'll come back to try other things on their menu. read more

Ordered a tonkatsu don to-go. When I opened it I found this instead: some cut up sausage and a flimsy egg. read more

Aki Japanese Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Fresh, simple, tasty. Excellent paired with white wine from Italy.